New PHP development server launch script

rewrite.php

@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * CodeIgniter PHP-Development Server Rewrite Rules
+ *
+ * This script works with serve.php to help run a seamless
+ * development server based around PHP's built-in development
+ * server. This file simply tries to mimic Apache's mod_rewrite
+ * functionality so the site will operate as normal.
+ */
+
+$uri = urldecode(parse_url($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], PHP_URL_PATH));
+
+$path = __DIR__.'public/'.$uri;
+
+// If $path is an existing file or folder within the public folder
+// then let the request handle it like normal.
+if (is_file($path) || is_dir($path))
+{
+    return false;
+}
+
+// Otherwise, we'll load the index file and let
+// the framework handle the request from here.
+
+// If we're serving the site locally, then we need
+// to let the application know that we're in development mode
+$_SERVER['CI_ENV'] = 'development';
+
+require_once __DIR__.'/public/index.php';

serve.php

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * CodeIgniter PHP-Development Server Launcher
+ *
+ * This script launches the built-in PHP development server
+ * making sure that it knows the webroot is in the public folder,
+ * and using the rewrite.php file to mimic mod_rewrite functionality.
+ *
+ * The script is automatically set to the development environment
+ * within the rewrite.php file.
+ */
+
+$php  = PHP_BINARY;  // command to call PHP
+
+/*
+ * Collect any user-supplied options and apply them
+ */
+$options = getopt(null, ['host:', 'port:']);
+
+$host = $options['host'] ?? 'localhost';
+$port = $options['port'] ?? '8080';
+
+/*
+ * Get the party started
+ */
+require_once __DIR__.'/system/CLI/CLI.php';
+\CodeIgniter\CLI\CLI::write("CodeIgniter development server started on http://{$host}:{$port}", 'green');
+\CodeIgniter\CLI\CLI::write("Press Control-C to stop.");
+
+/*
+ * Call PHP's built-in webserver, making sure to set our
+ * base path to the public folder, and to use the rewrite file
+ * to ensure our environment is set and it simulates basic mod_rewrite.
+ */
+passthru($php.' -S localhost:'.$port.' rewrite.php -t public/');

user_guide_src/source/installation/index.rst

@@ -65,4 +65,5 @@ TODO
 	self
 	upgrading
 	troubleshooting
+    local_server
 

user_guide_src/source/installation/local_server.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+########################
+Local Development Server
+########################
+
+PHP provides a built-in web server that is can be used locally when developing an application without
+the need to setup a dedicated web server like MAMP, XAMPP, etc. If you have PHP installed on your
+development machine, you can use the ``serve.php`` script to launch PHP's built-in server and have
+it all setup to work with your CodeIgniter application. To launch the server type the following
+from the command line in the main directory::
+
+    > php serve.php
+
+This will launch the server and you can now view your application in your browser at http://localhost:8080.
+
+.. note:: The built-in development server should only be used on local development machines. It should NEVER
+    be used on a production server.
+
+Customization
+=============
+
+If you need to run the site on a different host than simply localhost, you'll first need to add the host
+to your ``hosts`` file. The exact location of the file varies in each of the main operating systems, though
+all *nix-type systems (include OS X) will typically keep the file at **/etc/hosts**.
+
+Once that is done you can use the ``--host`` CLI option to specify a different host to run the application at::
+
+    > php serve.php --host=example.dev
+
+By default, the server runs on port 8080 but you might have more than one site running, or already have
+another application using that port. You can use the ``--port`` CLI option to specify a different one::
+
+    > php serve.php --port=8081